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Show rwm Eagles Stay Alive in IHL Playoffs, Beats Komets, By Roger Graves Tribune Sports Writer . FORT WAYNE. Ind, They said It couldn't, wouldn't, shouldn't happen. They said it was impossible. They said it was time to turn out the lights on the Golden Eagles. They said Salt Lake was dead. And the Golden Eagles arc dead. - Dead even. from the ashes on Paul Lawless two goals Saturday night to deal the Hornets a defeat before 3,264 screaming onlookers at Memorial best-of-sev- The fact that Lawless was even on the ice to supply the game-winnwas almost as miraculous as Salt Lake's comeback from a 0 deficit. The left winger sampled a little linguini with clam sauce for lunch Saturday and by game time was doubled over with some kind of stomach sickness. "Webbie Eagles Coach Tom Webe ster told me to take the warmup and if I didn't feel well enough to go back to the hotel," dis Now, Salt Lake has suddenly matched Fort Wayne's feat of winning three consecutive games and has d squared Its playoff series The at the decisive unfolds seventh game of the series Sunday at 5 p.m. MST at Memorial er 3-- first-roun- er Coliseum. matic 3 he did in Salt Lake's draovertime enquest of the Ka-me- ts pre-gam- at the Salt in Game 5 Thursday game-winn- the third period on a virtual replay of his winning overtime goal 48 hours earlier. Coliseum. Just as pair of goals, including the 3:20 into 3 3-- After losing the initial three games of its Western Division semifinal series with Fort Wayne, many thought it was time to read the Golden Eagles their last rights. But, proving there is life after apparent death, Salt Lake rose phoenix-lik- e in a Palace, the Eagles' Lawless popped closed Lawless, a scorer during the regular season. "But I wanted to give it a go. I've felt a lot better, but it's the playoffs and I thought if I could skate at all that I'd better give it a shot." Lawless gave it more than a shot. He rapped in two goals for the second straight game and was one of the chief reasons why Salt Lake is still shootbreathing in this out. Ironically, Lawless game-winnwas almost a precise replica of r his Thursday in overn game-decide- time. With the theatrics deadlocked at Salt Lake defenseman Bob Hess spotted Lawless streaking up ice at the red line and planted a picture pass on his stick. Lawless then streak to the right circle, paused momentarily to freeze Fort Wayne goalie Alain Chevrier, then skated in close and beat Chevrier with a high backhander at 3.20 of the third period. "Just like the other night, Bob Hess saw me breaking and put the puck right on my stick," reviewed Lawless. "It was a situation again, and that gives me more room to operate. I don't know what Fort Wayne goalie Alain Chevrier was thinking, but maybe he thought I was going to shoot from the circle again. 1 But at the last second, I changed my mind and went to my backhand." Once Lawless breakaway had elevated Salt Lake to a lead, the Eagles maintained a defensive posture in an attempt t nurse the slender advantage. The strategy worked, with Brent Sapergia and Grant Rezansoff guiding in empty-ne- t goals in the closing 31 seconds to stretch the final margin to While Lawless was the offensive hero, Eagles goaltender Ed was the defensive catalyst. Staniowski, who was beaten and by the Komets in Games 1 and 2 at See D-- Column 5 3 6-- Stan-iows- 3-- 1 or llccordcil Scores Section D Sunday, April 28, 1985 Page 1 Call ocal 3-- 2 Sports Inl'ormuliun Call l 6-- 3 237-200- 1 2372025 Series Decision Time Today Jazz-Rocke- ts By Lex Hemphill Tribune Sports Writer HOUSTON The time for bold statements is riot now, not after two teams have competed against each other for more than a week with neither gaining even the hint of an upper - hand. And so it was that, as the Jazz arrived at Houston International Airport Saturday afternoon, a porter who was helping them load their bags onto the team bus joked to Darrell Griffith, "Yeah, you sure almost gave me a heart attack last night." The man is a Rockets fan, and Griffith's late three-poishots almost demor- alized him Friday night. Griffith heard the mans parrying and quietly muttered, to nobody but himself, "Wait 'til tomorrow. "Tomorrow" is what's left for the Jazz Sunday, as they challenge the more physically gifted Houston Rockets in the fifth and deciding d game of their NBA playoff series. The winner gets to advance to the Western Conference semifinals Antonio winagainst the Denver-Sa- n ner. The loser gets to begin summer vacation. The Jazz would appear to be the more likely losers Sunday, in light of their squandering of a golden chance to eliminate the Rockets Friday lead in the secnight, with a ond half at home. Now it is the Rockets who have the homecourt advantage. But it is the Jazz who are telling themselves, like Griffith, that they aren't afraid to come in here and win like they did nine days ago Sunday and like they've done seven times in 11 games in their adopted state of Texas this season. "I think what they have got to be careful of is not thinking that its over just by the fact they're going home," said Jazz Coach Frank Layden Saturfirst-roun- The Jazz don't think so, and they've got some history on their side to support them. For instance, since the e NBA the format for the first round last year, eight of the 16 series went the full e route. Only the results of six of them, all last year, are availand able, since the s will be decided Sunday. But in those six, the team that won the first game also won the last and three of those six times, one that was a road team. In other words, best-of-fiv- five-gam- Jazz-Rocke- ts Spurs-Nugget- Jazz Today HOUSTON ROCKETS First Round, Gome Five At the Summit, 11 o.m. MDT KSL-To (1 160 AW) (Channel 5), Proboble Stoners (Playoff Avgs.) Pos. Jazz, Rockets, F Adrian Dantlev, 24.5 Rodney McCray, 12.8 F Thurl Boiley, 17.3 Ralph Sampson, 20.8 C Mark Eaton, 7.3 Akeem Olaiuwon, 18.5 G John Lucas, 13.0 Rickey Green, 11.0 G Darrell Griffith, 16.0 Lewis Lloyd, 19.5 Jazz Glance This is the tilth time In franchise history that the Jozz have faced a in the first four a playoff situation, and they were year ago winning Gomes and 5 over Denver and Game 5 over Phoenix before losing Game 6 to the Suns. So most of the Jazz plovers have been In this situation before. And all of them hove spent considerable time In this building before; In fact, this is the fifth time the Jazz will have played In the Summit within the last eight weeks. The Jozz are in the Summit within the last two months, and one of their in losses was a three-poifinal the three mingome utes. Rockets Glance The Rockets are seeking to win their first playoff series in four years. The last time they won a playoff series, they went all the way to the NBA finals in 1981. The Rockets are 3 at home this season, counhng the playoffs, and they will have their 17th sellout crowd (16,016) on hand to watch Sundoy. The Rockets arrived home at midafternoon Saturday and went to the areno for practice, at which they mostly lust shot tree throws. That would be a good idea, since they're making only 58.3 percent of their foul shots In the series, with Sampson and Olaiuwon combining for 50 percent (30 for 60). The Rockets ore also shooting o mere 42.9 percent from the field for the four games. the team in the lost. Jazzs shoes has never Perhaps there is some psychologifactor involved, beyond these games being isolated two-hopatches over a period of a week or so. These two teams have really been paired against each other for two weeks now (since the last day of the regular season), and in all that time, the Rockets have never been ahead. Does that weigh on a team? Or how about the fact that neither team seems capable of winning two in a row from the other, as the Rockets will have to do in order to win the series Sunday? Amateur shrinks can have fun with these matters, but the players don't bother with it a bit. They're more concerned about the physical aspect of it all, and to that end, there will probably be two tired teams on the floor Sunday. Because of CBS-Tthe Jazz and Rockets will be tipping off their decisive game at noon here (11 a.m. MDT), less than 36 hours after the final buzzer of their emotionally draining Game 4 Friday night in Salt Lake City. cal "Both teams have the same probsaid Rockets Coach Bill Fitch Saturday afternoon after he held a brief practice and film session with his players. "I think when you get to a must game, both teams will be at an emotional pitch. But sometimes it fools you. Sometimes you get a better game, sometimes you get a poorer No matter what, weve got game to do it. You dont always like the cards dealt you, but the guys that win are the guys that learn to win with bad hands. The fatigue factor is something that concerns Layden. He decided not to hold a team practice here Saturday evening, and one of the reasons was that he feels he has a tired team on lem, ... day. See D-- Column 4 Tribune Staff Pnoto oy Ai Hartmann heroics nonwithstanding, the Jazz will need a solid outing from Darrell Three-poi- nt Griffith at both ends of the floor against Houston Sunday in game five of the series. i I Nish Gains Green Light for Indy 500 Qualifying By Dick Rosetta Tribune Sports Writer So, Mike Nish, how is it for a Salt Lake City-bor- n race car driver to whiz over the asphalt and bricks of the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway? At over 200 miles per hour? Whewee!" That was the historical utterance from Nish Saturday as he became the first Utah native to be given the green light to attempt qualifying runs for the Indianapolis 500. Mike Nish Clears Indy 500 Hurdle The Nish, who cut his teeth on Utah's short tracks (Bonneville Raceway Park in West Salt Lake County and Suntana Raceway in Springville) and later began chomping away at the bigger morsels like Riverside (California) and Phoenix International Raceway, was given technical clearance Saturday by United States Auto Club officials to begin official preparations for Mays two qualifying weekends and the 500 spectacle itself on May 26. "What more can I say? Its simply the greatest feeling in the world to have been judged by your peers to be technically efficient enough to race with the premier drivers of the world, the obviously excited Nish said via a telephone hookup Saturday from Indy's Gasoline Alley. Nish, son of veteran Salt Lake driver Terry Nish, who has won two local championships in d racing, was the first of the sev- super-modifie- en 1985 212-mi- rookies to be pushed out onto the famed oval Friday about 9:30 a.m. Just being out on the track with the grandstands around all the corners and the track sweeping out before you with no end in sight it was awesome. I'll tell you what was runwhen I ning through my mind at the start came out of turn 2, all I could thing was my gosh, those are danged long straightaways? They the back straight and front straight stretch out a mile go on forever," Nish ... When Nish strapped himself into the 1984 March owned by Dick Simon and put the car on the track, it was the first time he had ever been around the oval. "Its a funny thing I was here all last May as an apprentice under Dick and I never went around the track, not even in a passenger car. My dad always told me that the first time I would ever be on the track was when I was in the cockpit of a car. He was right," Mike explained. "We tried to do the whole thing the rookie test in one day Friday and darned near made it," reported the former West High School football letterman who has logged two years of engineering study at the University of Utah. "They USAC require four phases of driving 10 consistent laps between 0 expertise 10 between mph, 10 between and 10 between We went through all of those with no problem until only two laps were left in the last phase and the engine went bad But what made us all feel do darned good was that USAC official Roger McCluskey said I had done a good enough job to merit a passing grade," Nish said. Nish's Indy orientation went off without a hitch. Wasnt there just a little wiggle in the car into or out of one of the turns? After all. a driver goes into Turn 1 and Turn 3 at Indy at something like 200 mph. "Nope. No problem at all. Matter of fact, it was more difficult to run consistent speeds in the lower range like 175 to 180. The car simply runs better at higher speeds. It's set up for higher speeds. But it's part of the test to be consistent at lower speeds as well as higher speeds. I became more comfortable at the higher speeds. How high? "Oh. we topped 200 mph in the "We straights." Nish offered matter-of-factlaveraged 187 mph for the 179 miles we rah. I was right at home. It's all relative. I mean running at Bonneville Raceway, you turn a lot since it's a short track." ... ... 175-18- 180-18- 185-19- 0 190-19- Could the Home Court Be a Disadvantage in NBA Playoffs? Some weeks ago. I printed th( suits of a psychological study w purported to show the home coui field might no an advantage and could act in handicap crucial game the World Seri NBA playoffs. John Mooney I after Jazz missei And golden opportu to eliminate H ton from the I playoffs in the Palace Friday night. I'm beginnir believe the psychological thee may have merit. Jazz can only it s true in the game at Houston day The survey based some of its conclusions on the fact the home crowd might be expecting too much, which might force the team to try too hard to live up to expectations. I think there could be a reverse effect. too. in that the team may expect too much from the fans and count too much on fan support intimidating the ribime Siport Editor officials and the visiting team. The distraction provided by the fans on Houston free throw attempts may have held down the Rocket scoring. and kept the game within reach. And in that, the crowd was a favorable factor for the home team. There are two other psychological factors to be considered, and you can twist them around to prove any point you seek. First, the Rockets had not w on a game in the Salt Palace in their last eight appearances against the Jazz. Does this tend to lull the Jazz into Sometimes a whammy such as this hurts the team with that poor record. The Rockets broke the jinx when it counted s- - There is another psychological facet I mentioned to colleague Joe Baird on the way to the Salt Palace that feeling we have two games to win one and too often I've seen teams lose just because they need only one victory in the next two or three games. Unconsciously, some of the intensity may be missing from that team, while the opponent knows every game is a must. - Big Hearted Maybe there was too much emphasis on the heart" of the Jazz and the club was winning so easily it felt compassion on the visitors. Whatever the psychological reason if psychology was involved -something took the killer out of the Jazz early in the game when Houston was playing poorly and ready for the knock out. The Jazz shot 52 percent ) in the first quarter to Houston's 29 percent but led only at the first rest period. It was Houston which felt the pressure, missing makeablc shots and making poor passes. But the Jazz - (12-23- 24-1- 9 couldn't pull away early. In the second period, the Jazz did a better job and ran up a lead as g6od defense by the Jazz and poor shooting by the Rockets held the visitors to a Mitchell Wiggins field goal at 4.52 and blanked Houston until Akeem Olajuwon's tip at 1:01. That's almost 49-3- 8 four minutes between Houston scores. That ran a tie to a edge. The first half was Mark Eaton's show as he batted away seven shots and his threat forced Houston into missing several other shots. Maybe that psychology rubbed off on the Jazz who started to count too much on Eaton's blocks. Or. maybe Eaton's frustrating of the Twin Towers gave Houston the psychological edge to overcome Big Mark, who had only three blocks in the second half, although his 10 for the night set a playoff record There are so many ifs" and possibilities and probabilities in a championship playoff, a psychologist could have a field day, or a mental relapse, trying to anaylze the changing trends Whereas the series at Houston 36-a- ll 47-3- 8 showed each team at its best against the opponent's worst in two different games in the split, the No. 4 game Friday offered a kaleidoscopic panorama of the best and worst of both teams in 48 minutes of frenzied action. Except for 30, 34 and 36 ties in the second quarter, the first half was a Jazz show. But the third quarter showed how the momentum swung back and forth. Buckets Cume Buck After the Jazz held a lead in the first minute of the quarter, the Rockets came back to take a with lead which was boosted to 3 27 left The Jazz defense then gave up only three points while the offense scored 13 edge going into points for a the final 12 minutes. The Rockets took the lead, right away in the final period and led and the margin appeared safe until Darrell Griffith's heroics v "th bombs three consecutive three-poin- t narrowed the gap to the final margin 51-3- 8 56-5- 2 64-5- 5 68-6- 69-6- 92-8- Nine points by Griffith in 25 seconds makes those old " teams look sluggish. The playoffs are games of emotion, they say, and psychology in sports is based on emotion. Now the emotion supposedly will swing to the Rockets and their home-couadvantage (or "point-a-minute- rt disadvantage) for the Sunday finale of the five game series. But on the subject of emotional play, Johnny McKay, when he coached football at USC, disagreed with the value of emotions, explaining. "My wife. Corky, is a very emotional person and she can't play football worth a darn." However, that was at USC where McKay was a winner. When he coached Tampa Bay in the NFL and was fired. McKay may have wished for the emotional approach of any- one. Otacrvution Ward Astronauts worry about overcombut in the playoffs it's "emotion which causes headaches and upset stomachs. ing "motion |
